Fin McBride is a small man. In fact he's a dwarf, 5' 4", with a regular
man-sized torso but disproportionately small arms and legs. He's also a
quiet guy, a guy who likes trains and walking on railroad tracks, so when
his only friend and co-worker dies and leaves him the deed to an aging
old rural train depot, he makes the move. And when he gets there, he meets
some new people.

That's the story, feather-light, of the Station Agent, a gentle, leisurely
drifting-together of some lives. There are no big plot twists, Fin doesn’t
have to hold a bikini-car wash to pay the debt on the train station, there
are few big dramatic moments that bring these people closer.

It's a quiet film, very quiet, filled with lots of silences, comfortable
ones. That's Fin's thing. He's a compacted man who rarely speaks, so much
wisdom seems to reside in him. People are drawn to him. Lonely people.

First there's Joe, a good guy who runs a sad hot dog van across the
street. He really wants to be Fin's buddy, clapping him on the back, pumping
him up, telling him "you the man!" He's never dissuaded for a minute by
Fin's arch glances or slight sighs of annoyance; he's like an iron filing
to Fin's lodestone. Played by Bobby Cannavale, Joe is easy and open, throwing
out little dots of friendship to Fin who stoically absorbs them.

And of course, Joe's always helping out when it comes to Olivia, a lonely
divorced ex-mother grieving her son. Olivia meets Fin by almost hitting
him with her car, twice, and from then on they know each other, pushed
together here and there with gentle prodding from Joe. She and Fin have
a lot more in common with each other than with Joe since both really prefer
to sit quietly and not talk. Olivia as played by Patricia Clarkson is distant
but empathetic, preferring privacy but accepting good will, lean with grief.

Michelle Williams, perky blonde from Dawson's Creek, appears as perky
blonde Emily, a library girl who develops a sweet little crush on Fin after
an embarassing first meeting where she shrieks and drops a bunch of books.
She plays it simple and appealing, another person with her own problems,
swinging for a while into Fin's orbit before spinning off again.

But the center of the movie is Peter Dinklage as Fin. Yes, his name
is Dinklage; stop snickering. He's cool. He's got so much dignity and reserve,
he's holding so much in, it's like he's denser, he's got more gravity;
it's easy to see why people need to tell him things. The movie feels shaped
to him, built around his frame; "normal" proportions seem slightly unbalanced
compared to him.

As I say, the film is light, skipping against moments in these lives
without histrionics. Writer-director Thomas McCarthy likes simple scenes,
people walking along rail tracks or sitting on a porch sipping a beer,
or shots of Fin asleep on his couch. It's a strange film to describe, and
to recommend. There are few big scenes, or laughs, or heart-wrenching moments,
and yet… you're a little different after you've seen it.